£4BN The TRUE COST to families of the schools closure crisis
Parents forced to slash working hours... taking pay cuts... even quitting their jobs as they struggle with childcare. Now we reveal for the first time the crippling bill
WOrKING parents are forfeiting £250 million in earnings every week as the continuing closure of schools and nurseries force them to cut down on work to look after their children, Money Mail can reveal.
Families are losing an average of £36 per week from their household income as they struggle to cope with increased childcare demands, while some parents are losing in excess of £300.
One in ten parents has had to voluntarily reduce their hours and take a pay cut, while 11pc have been furloughed because they can no longer keep up with their workload, according to exclusive research by Consumer Intelligence. A further 6pc have had to stop working completely.
There are 7,189,000 working families in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, meaning millions of pounds are being lost every week. Schools in Scotland have been closed since March 20 and south of the Border since March 23, so total household income losses could be nearly £4 billion.
A quarter of working parents have lost income due to school and nursery closures, according to the survey of 1,011 UK adults. Of those, families are forfeiting an average of £584 of their normal monthly household income.
The shocking findings have prompted Mps to warn that the UK faces an ‘epidemic’ of unemployment among parents if schools don’t reopen in August (in Scotland) or in September (in england) as planned.
The Mail has led calls to restart children’s education as soon as possible, but both the Government and teaching unions have come under fire after plans to reopen all primary schools south of the Border for four weeks before the summer collapsed.
Our findings reveal the true financial toll of that failure for working parents — and warn of worse to come if targets are missed again.
STRUGGLING WITH JUST ONE INCOME
WHeN lockdown halted Anete Baumeistar’s work as a mystery shopper, it put a ‘significant’ strain on her family’s finances. The mother-ofthree had hoped she could earn again when all shops reopened on June 15. But she’s found it impossible to return to work because her children cannot attend school or nursery.
It means the 27-year-old is losing out on up to £300 per month. Her husband, David, 24, is keeping the family afloat thanks to his job as a delivery driver, but the drop in their income has made it harder for them to pay off debts. ‘It might not be a significant amount for others, but it is for us,’ says Anete.
The couple’s eldest child, Marcus, ten, should have been back in class on June 1, under the Government’s original targets, but the family are still awaiting confirmation of a restart date from his school.
Meanwhile, they cannot find a nursery or childcare for Shiloh, two, and three-month-old Shammah until August at the earliest.
Anete, from Corby, Northamptonshire, says she’d normally ask her mother to help out for a day or two, but she is working herself so cannot be on hand five days a week.
‘The longer it takes for schools to reopen, the bigger impact it will have. If you don’t have money for one month, you can get through. But if it goes on for two, three or six months, the consequences are vast.’
COUNTING COST OF EXTRA BILLS
pAreNTS are also spending £137 more per month on food because their children are at home all day, every day, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, 15 pc of working parents are having to pay more for alternative childcare, which is costing an average of £484 per month.
It comes as separate research from comparethemarket.com shows that 30pc of parents whose children have not yet gone back to school found it hard to pay their bills last week — the highest level since lockdown began.
Meanwhile, half of parents are paying for extra educational support during lockdown at an average of £26 per month, according to research by Opinium on behalf of royal London, published yesterday.
NURSERY PLACES ARE HARD TO FIND
NUrSerIeS in england have been allowed to open to all children since June 1, but many parents have struggled to find a place.
The latest Government figures show that as of July 2, just 23pc of the number of children who normally attend early years schooling had returned. Nurseries are prioritising key workers and many are not taking on new children until September.
In Scotland, childminders and outdoor nurseries have been open since June 3, while early Learning and Childcare providers are hopeful they will get the go-ahead to fully open from July 15.
The professional Association for Childcare and early Years says a quarter of its members are not open, while the early Years Alliance say many nurseries, pre-school groups and childminders are facing losses due to the pandemic and could close. Meanwhile, the Competition and Markets Authority is investigating nurseries that charged hundreds of pounds in fees to parents while their children were not allowed to attend. (part-time private nursery places cost an average of £6,600 per year).
MUMS FACE MATERNITY TRAP
WOMeN are most often in the firing line, as they continue to shoulder
the majority of childcare. In many cases, once maternity leave ends, new mothers are having to resort to taking unpaid leave due to a lack of support.
Nat Snook, 35, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, has had to extend her maternity leave from nine months to a year, but the final three months will be unpaid.
The mother-of-three, who works at a playgroup, says she felt she had no choice other than to take unpaid leave. She has been unable to find care for her six-month-old, Lola, and Mason, 13, and Amelia, eight, are also yet to return to school.
Nat says she supports a petition, already signed by 228,000 people, calling for a three-month extension to the nine months’ statutory maternity pay of £151 a week.
Emily Tredget, of parent and baby class website Happity, says some mothers are being forced to resign, because employers will not even allow an extension.
‘I’ve heard stories of mums asking to extend maternity leave and are happy to take it unpaid, but the employer saying, “I’m not willing to chat to you until you have a solution to the childcare”.’
More than half of working mums believe their career prospects have been damaged due to increased childcare demands during the pandemic, according to a survey by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed.
Maike Currie, of Fidelity International, points out the situation is likely to widen the pension gap between men and women. She adds that reducing working hours, or giving up work to care for a child, ‘can be extremely detrimental to future finances’.
WHY RESTART IS VITAL FOR ALL
THE latest Government figures show that just 17pc of pupils had returned to school by July 2. The Prime Minister has vowed that all pupils in England will be back at school by September, but unions cast doubt on a return.
The National Education Union has said Government plans are ‘more based on hope than science’.
Tory MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, says Money Mail’s findings are ‘yet another reason why we need children learning again in September’.
He adds: ‘Otherwise, we will face not just an epidemic of educational poverty, but high unemployment.’
Sarah Hesz, of childcare app Bubble, says parents face ‘utter panic if schools don’t reopen in September — I feel genuinely sick thinking about it. Financially, I can’t imagine how parents will cope.’
Labour’s shadow education secretary, Kate Green, says: ‘These are very worrying figures, showing parents face acute financial pressure as a result of having to reduce hours or give up work to look after children.
‘At the same time, thousands of childcare settings face closure as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
Getting children safely back to school in September, and providing wraparound care, must be urgent priorities for the Government.’
A Government spokesman says: ‘This government has been doing everything it can to support workers. The swift action taken has protected millions of jobs.
‘Schools and nurseries have been open for the children of critical workers throughout and, since June 1, they have been able to open more widely. Almost 1.6 million children have now returned to school.
‘We are working to ensure all children are able to return to school in September.’